It’s past time for Georgia Tech’s Haynes King to get his due

While watching the ACC Football Kickoff in Charlotte on Wednesday, I started to understand why Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King never seems to get his due credit from people outside The Flats.

One media member asked King why he was willing to be a “battering ram” when his throwing shoulder was injured last season. Another reporter marveled at King rushing 24 times against Georgia. Someone else asked why King is a “selfless” quarterback.

It was as if none of them had ever seen King play before the final three regular-season games in 2024.

No wonder King couldn’t even get an honorable mention for the All-ACC team after completing an all-time great season statistically. You’ve got to go all the way down to the fourth 2025 preseason All-ACC team before Athlon Sports lists King. I refuse to believe there are three better QBs in the league.

People who have watched King closely since he transferred to Tech from Texas A&M in 2023 couldn’t have been surprised by him making things happen even with a bad shoulder. King has always been willing to play when his body is banged up. The big Texan’s eagerness to run through defenders is a big reason the Yellow Jackets have developed a physical identity with coach Brent Key.

“Whatever it takes to win and move the ball, I’m willing to do,” King said.

King has backed those words with action. It started well before he played as a runner for last year’s final three regular-season games because he couldn’t pass. To illustrate what King means to his program, Key pointed to his performance in Tech’s Gasparilla Bowl victory over Central Florida to end the 2023 season.

Key’s production in that game was modest, and that’s the point. He had a chance to set several Tech passing records but attempted only 13 passes while completing seven for 87 yards.

Said Key: “At the end of the game we ran the ball 27 straight times, and (King) was saying, ‘Run it again, run it again’ … because he knew that was the way to break their will. When you’ve got a guy like that puts the team above himself and is willing to lay it on the line for his teammates, everybody else is going to run through a wall for him.”

King’s return for a sixth collegiate season is key for the Jackets. Key mentioned the team’s strong quarterback depth more than once Wednesday. Aaron Philo showed promise when pressed into action as a freshman in 2024, and there are more talented young players behind him.

But King makes the Jackets go. He would have found plenty of takers at other schools if he’d entered the transfer portal. King said the decision to stay “was very simple and easy” because continuity in the program sets up the Jackets for a big year.

“Everybody coming back, we have a great building, great people, people I trust and people that are wired the same and want to do things the right way,” King said. “That just makes the decision so much easier, so much simpler when you put in stuff like that, decisions like that. It’s not about chasing greener grass.

“I’m surrounding myself with the right kind of people, and I will be successful if I do that.”

Back to that question about King’s selflessness. He said it’s a reflection of the way he was raised by his father, John, the longtime head coach at Longview (Texas) High. John King used to play offensive line, which might help to explain his son’s hard-nosed running style as a quarterback.

“If we’re running the ball, and that’s the way to win the ballgame, I’m going to do that,” King said. “I don’t care about stats. I’m not a stat guy. If you continue to win, everything else is going to fall into place, whether it’s accolades, whether it’s stats, stuff like that.”

King may not care about statistics, but his 2024 numbers were stellar even though he missed two games and played three others with the bad throwing shoulder.